ooops I forgot one!

Hello,
     So it turns out I forgot to enter about my travels around Australia for the last 3 days of my trip. So here it goes.  I packed my bags and said goodbye to the beautiful town of Newcastle which I had called home for the last 5 months. Its was sad to say goodbye to the place and to the friends I had made but it was good to know that in a few days I would be home. Over the next few days I traveled with my friend Marry to see the Olympic Park in Sydney and The Blue Mountains in Katoomba.
     Getting from Newcastle to the Olympic park was a maze of trains but we made it by mid day. We walked through the main plaza found the stadium and signed up for a tour. It turned out we were the only ones that signed up so we had a nice little private tour of the stadium. It was really neat to see all the inner workings of the stadium. The stadium has gone through a lot of changes since the Olympics and looks very different. We got to see the press boxes, locker rooms, private boxes, and a lot more.

     From here we hopped on a few more trains and headed into The Blue Mountains. We rolled into town around 9pm and were surprised at the near freezing temperatures. Luckily the front desk at the Hostel hadn't closed so we were still abel to get a room. I had stayed at a lot of hostels by this point but this was the biggest dorm I had slept in, it held 16 people. We got moved in, cooked some dinner, miggeled with other people and then it was off to bed. The next day started for us at 4:45am, we needed to get a jump on the day as I had to catch my 2:30pm flight out of Sydney which was still a 3 hour train ride away.  It was pitch black, 30 degrees, and quarter inch of frost covered everything,  armed with a map and a tinny flash light we took off into town to catch the sunrise over The Blue Mountains. We navigated through the zig zaging road and found a spot to duck into the woods to go check out the three sisters. (You can see the three sisters on the second picture below here)

 I learned from my previous experiences hiking in Australia that giant spiders are a very real threat, especially in the dark, needless to say this time I was waving a stick in front of me like an angry blind man making sure no spider found my face. We ended up in a different spot than we intended but it had a beautiful view of the sunrise. It was a real treat watching the frozen valley come alive with the light; you couldn't hear another person or a car or anything, It was just you, nature, and a view to die for.  It was the perfect way to spend my final morning in Australia.  We took a quick hike around the rim, posed for a picture with the three sisters, and headed back to the hostel to catch the 9:30 train to the airport. My stay was very short in Katoomba but very much worth it.

      It was weird to board the train knowing that my next final destination would be good ol' Elma, NY.  The train ride went well and we arrived at Central Station in Sydney. From here I would go to the airport and Marry would go back to the house in Newcastle, so we said our goodbyes,  promised wed all meet up again some days soon, and then went on our separate ways.
     - Evan


 

The End . . .

Hi,
     So this is it, i've been home from my trip for 4 months now and I guess its time to close out the blog. I  constantly reflect on the great memories i've made and flip through the pictures I took. It all seams surreal! I feel very fortunate to have spent so long in such a great place and met so many great people. Living in Australia was really a treat, it was a slower way of life and more care free. Living on the beach really allowed me to just slow down and take it all in.
     The places I was abel to travel to left an ever lasting impression on me. I've learned that the best plan to have sometimes is no plan at all. When nothing is certain anything is possible.  This was the case with many of my adventures, luck is also very helpful.  I also learned that you make your own memories, no one is going to pull you off the couch, take you to Australia and make you have the time of your life, you have to do it yourself.
     Truth is I cant put it all my feelings and experiences into words.  All I know is that these 5 months surpassed my wildest expectations. This trip cost me a few thousand dollars but it was worth a few million!
      I truly have been bitten by the travel bug and I can feel it starting to itch again.
- Evan

Whitsunday Islands

Hello,

     I know its a little over due but id like to write about my final adventure in Australia.  Just before finals at school started I took a trip with 4 other friends up to the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland. Our flight landed just a 2 hour car ride south of the islands so we had to rent a car. We got our gear all loaded into the car and it was time to go .  .. or so we thought. We neglected to ask for an automatic car and this one was well . . . manuel, which non of us knew how to drive. After some discussion we decided to just go for it and our friend with 15 mins of manuel experience took the wheel. The next two hours were full of beautiful sights and the smell of a burnt clutch.

     We arrived in the town, stocked up on food, and made our way to the ferry. Our plan for the first 3 days was to camp on a beach on the back of one of the islands. We missed the early ferry as we couldn't find where to return the car so we waited for the 5:00 boat.  The ride took about 40 mins and darkness quickly fell upon us. We unloaded the boat and had no idea where to go. The captain directed us to talk to one of the workers that lived on the front of the island. We told him where were we staying and he told us he's never been there and that its a good 2 hour hike.  It was raining dark and we had no idea where we were going. He showed us where to pick up the trail and wished us luck. We began hiking on the narrow trail through the jungle breaking through unsuspecting spiderwebs with our faces. About an hour into it we decided to call it quits for the night and just setup our tents where we were.

     In the morning we hiked the rest of the way and arrived at our camp site.  On our way we encountered a spider web taking up the whole trail.  To our dismay the spider was the biggest spider ive ever seen in person or on TV! It was literally bigger than my face. We spent the next 20 mins army crawling and sending our gear under it. Arriving at our beach we found it to be veryyy remote! We set up our tent and found another on of those huge spiders right next to where we were to be sleeping. We spent the next 3 days hanging out on the beach, playing frisbee, floating and exploring in our boats and swimming in the ocean. The wild life was quite active around us, we saw crabs, nesting albatrosses, bio-luminestent marine life, a shark (unconfirmed), and even chased by stingrays.  These 3 days were very enjoyable and was a great time to slow down and enjoy such a lovely and remote place.

    Our hike back to the ferry was much more enjoyable than the hike to the camp site.  On our way we stopped at this small resort with cool little bungalows and begged for some water, (we forgot water and spent the previous 3 days without). We loaded up and took the boat back to the main land. Here we settled into a hostel on Airlie Beach and booked a trip for the next day.

     Our trip for today took us out amongst the 73 tropical islands and the Great Barrier Reef. The boat picked us up first thing in the morning and we set out to a spot to snorkel. When we got to the spot the rain stopped and the clouds broke to give us some spectacular weather to explore the reef in.  I was fortunate enough to see many fish, stingrays, crabs and even got to swim along side a sea turtle.

     From here it was about a 30min. ride to where we would take a hike. This quick hike uphill gave us an amazing view of the most beautiful beach in the world, Heavenly Beach, and it was just that, heavenly! The tide was going out and created an almost serpentine like zig zag of sand and turquoise water that went from the ocean deep into the island.  I felt like i had seen this spot before and I couldn't put my finger on it, I later realized thaafter taking many pictuers we hiked down t this exact view point is the cover picture for National Geographic's Most Beautiful Places.  After taking many pictures we hiked down opposite the side we hiked up and got to feel the amazing sand for the first time.  This sand is incredibly white and fine compared to other sands, its so fine in fact you can polish your jewelry with it.  The boat picked us up and took us to the other end of the beach where we had lunch and some time to relax and enjoy the area. The lunch was amazing and I couldn't have imagined a more pretty setting to enjoy it in.  After lunch we headed back to the mainland and the tour was over. We spent that night out on the town and enjoying our last night in paradise. In the morning I picked up a shuttle to the airport and flew back to Newcastle. I made it back to my house late that night and had a final exam at 8am that morning! and yes i did pass that one.

      My time in the Whitsunday's was amazing and the fact that i got to experience it with some awesome friends makes it even better!
- Evan
   

Fraser island final part

g'day mate,
    For our last day we all got up early to watch the sunrise and it didn't disappoint. Our first stop was inland to another lake. On our way to the lake it was really neat we got to see some planes come in for a landing on the beach, now thats something you don't see everyday.

The lake we arrived at was unique because it was positioned right at the base of a steep sand dune.  We took some card board for sledding and headed down to the lake. It was a good 5 min downhill run through the woods, naturally us 5 guys turned it into a race and it was hands down the best time i've ever  had running.

We broke out of the woods ran across the top of the dunes and we all finished the race running and rolling down the dune right into the water. It was the best finish line to a race ever! We spent the next while here trying to sled on the cardboard and just running jumping and flipping down the dunes into the water. It was perfect.

    From there we drove to the final spot which was a lake more inland. This lake was very large and had a few more of those picturesque trees growing out of the water.  We took the boats out into the water one last time and drifted until we couldn't make out the people on the shore. This was an incredibly peaceful and unique place to spend our last hours on the island.

    We left here and caught the fairy to the main land, returned the land rover and started heading home. One car went into Brisbane for the night while the car I was in ventured a little further down the coast to Byron Bay.  We got in around midnight and drove around to find a good spot to sleep in the car for the night. In the morning we awoke with hopes to rent surfboards and ride the famous Byron Bay point break. Unfortunately we were pressed for time and no place was open early enough.  Also, the waves were only about a foot high so that didnt help.  We drove the car to the shore for sunrise and man was it a good one!
    After the sunrise we hiked up to the light house, and then stocked up on food for the rest of the drive home.

We managed to make the 12 hour trip home with no directions and no address of where to return the car. Through our own awesomeness and asking people for help we managed to return the car with only 2 mins to spare. All in all the trip was a blast!
-Evan

Fraser Island part 2

Hello all,
        The next morning I woke up for sunrise and just soaked it all up!

We cooked breakfast out the back of the truck then drove north on the beach to our first spot of the day. We were heading for a place called Indian Head which is an elevated peninsula with a killer view.

 It was an absolutely beautiful day and could see clearly all up and down the coast. We spent a while gazing off the cliffs into the water. We saw a 14 foot-ish tiger shark, a sea turtle, and some stingrays. While on Indian Head we heard of a place just up the road called The Champagne Pools so we headed up that way to check them out.
        After running some pretty deep sand and a thrilling drive we parked the car and headed down to the pools. The pools were naturally made in some rocks right on the shore. When the waves crashed on the rocks the pools would bubble a lot, hence change pools.  I had a blast here, it was nature at its finest!

        After the pools we drove inland to have lunch at a lake that we heard we could see some turtles at. Driving on the beach you have to be very mindful of the tide as it does come all the way up on the beach. This time driving on the beach it got a little harry, it really felt like we were against the clock.    We got to the lake and well. . . it was really flooded with no where to even really stand. We walked out to a platform just a few feet of the shore and had a feed. Almost instantly countless turtles swam up to us, it was really cool! I even managed to catch one!

         We then headed back to camp, on our way we stopped at the invisible river. It got its name as it is so very clear with a sand bottom which makes it even harder to see the water. There rivers is pretty clear of derbies so we went for a float. This was the perfect end to the day, a nice cool relaxing float down a river through the forrest that ended at the sea with the sun setting.
- Evan

Fraser Island (part 1)

Good day mate-

      Myself and 6 other friends took a road trip 12 hours north to a very cool and unique place called Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the worlds Largest sand Island and is sonly a short fairy ride from the mainland.  One cool thing about this island is that it only has a few minor little communities on it mostly for camping but besides that the island is pure nature.  Despite hardly any housing on the island off road trails for cars criss cross the island making it an excellent playground for 4 wheel drive vehicles. The interior has trails through the thick forest connecting its many lakes and lookouts. On the shore you can drive for miles down the beaches with lush forests on one side of you ocean on the other side and nothing but sand beneath you, it is really quite neat!

      We left right after classes at around 5pm, despite getting lost right off the bat we drove straight through the night and arrive perfectly on time to get briefed about the Land Rover we would be renting.   After a few quick do's and dont's from the company (there were many more dont's than do's) it was time to set sail.... literally though we had to catch the fairy to the island. We waited in line and backed our truck onto the boat along with about 20 other cars.

We arrived on the island and were greeted by a few pelicans just chilling out on the beach. We drove down the winding sand path through the forrest for a while until we came to our first lake. We ate lunch here and explored around. The lakes in the island are pretty unique, you may think how can a lake be on a pure sand island wouldn't the water just leak out? Its true it would but with a great amount of vegetation on the island over the years the old and dead vegetation has settled into the low parts of the island and made an impervious layer the water can not get out of. Over the past 3 years the island has gotten massive rains so these lakes have risen to about 5 to 10 feet above their normal state. This means that all the visitor board walks and plaques are underwater which is a pretty neat sight. This was the case at our first stop. We embraced the high water levels tossed on our bathing suits and went for a swim to get a better view. It was a really treat to swim in fresh water and it was quite warm! With the flooding theres some unique trees growing out of the water, we found one and decided to climb it.

After that we ventured down the shore where there was more of a beach. We hung out here for a few more hours. Myself and two of the other guys brought blow up rafts so we pulled those our of the truck and went for a float in the lake. It was great getting to explore all around and just hang out on a bright beautiful sunny day!

         We hopped back in the truck and back tracked a little to get out to the beach. We drove north for a few km just taking in the sights. As darkness moved in we found a camp sight just atop a sand bank right on the beach. We watched the sun set set up our tents and cooked dinner. The dingos were really out that night, we saw two on our drive up the beach, 2 more came running through our campsite and while we were out stargazing on the beach we had one walk right at us and one sneak up behind us. The ones we saw stargazing came up really close so we shined our lights on them and tried to scare them away. The dingos took off in a full sprint running a bit of a half circle around us before disappearing off into the woods. It was very cool to see these animals up close and personal!
-Evan
   

Tasmania Part 4

Hello folks,
        I woke up on our second to last day and decided to catch the sunrise from atop the nut. On the hike up I passed literally over a hundred wallabies it was pretty crazy. The hike was very very steep and gave great views of the  town below and the beaches. It was amazing up there a very unique landscape with not a person in sight. I couldn't have asked for a better setting to watch the sunrise. After the sunrise I spent and hour our so exploring around the nut. We all met up back at the hostel and starting driving east across the north shore. In about an hour we stopped at Rocky Cape National Park. It was well... rocky and very cool!

      From here we went to the town of Penguin (yes thats its name) and attended the local sunday market. There was food, shops, and a mini beer garden with live music. We had a look around and found some interesting stuff. There was one stand where it was just a girl standing in front of a framed picture of her with the cast of some Australian TV show. She wasnt even selling anything she was just talking about her experience of meting these people..... kinda of odd if you ask me. There was one guy who looked like he just unloaded his garage and attic with no order into his spot so I went over and talked with him. He pulled out a mini sward almost a dagger but bigger and told me that it was a Nazi officer sward from back in the day. It had some gems on it and even a few swastikas, he was asking $3,500 for it, I passed but it was still really cool to hold a piece of history like that.
 
     We stocked up on some local bake goods and fruit and hit the road. We found another water fall or two to hike and made our way to a nature park to see some animals up close and personal. The park was only open for another hour so I didnt buy a ticket saving me a few bucks, I was happy just seeing the wild penguins the night before. While I waited out side with Monica it started to rain and next thing we knew and killer double rainbow sprung up in the valley. It was perfect you could see both ends on end even looked like it stopped right on top of a sheep. We wondered around to take some pictures of the rainbow and found that one of the gates to the park was open so we got inside to see some animals for free. It was a nice little added bonus.

      From here we drove a few more hours to Launceston and settled into our hostel for the night. This hostel was huge and very very nice, we all really enjoyed it. In the morning we dropped of Cristian at the airport and spend our final day exploring Launceston. We hiked a path through a gorge on the edge of the city and just spent the day taking it easy.

       The next day I flew back to Sydney and back to reality, well kinda.  I had an absolute blast on this trip!!! Traveling around with three other strangers in a foreign land was really special. I have really been wanting to do this type of trip and it was even more fun than I could have imagined!
-Evan